My Little Mockingbird
by NightShadowDweller14
Summary: Sequel to Blackbird, Night Bird: After Sakura had regained her memories, she decided to assist Sasuke to find his bother Itachi to get revenge on what driven him to become a mass murderer. Sakura knew she shouldn't be helping the one that killed everyone dear to her, but now that she has her memories back, she could only wonder if things could go back to how they once were.
1. We Go

Sasuke stood on the outside of the Konoha gates, his face hooded with a long beige cape, so the guards that stood on the inside of the gates didn't notice him, or if they did, thinking of him as a mere beggar. How long was she going to take?

_Sakura packed a small bag with items that will suffice to her before they made it to Otogakure. She never heard of the place, only being familiar with Sunagakure and Kirigakure. Sasuke was sitting at her desk looking through the file. He seemed so deep in concentration, she didn't want to bother him but she had to tell him where she was going to go before they headed off. _

"_Sasuke." She held the bag in her hands as she stood beside him. He didn't answer, so much of a flinch. She pouted lightly._

"_Sasuke!" She said a little louder. Sasuke jumped turning to look at her. _

"_What the hell! You scared me!" Sakura gaped. Was she going to bother getting herself into such an argument? She decided not to go into it. Rolling her eyes, she put her hands on her hips. _

"_I'm ready to go. Meet me at the gates; I have to speak with Tsunade before we leave." Sakura had told Sasuke that she was going to speak with Tsunade, and how things were going to work, much to Sasuke's chargin. He couldn't trust Tsunade not even for a second. But when Sakura told him not to worry, and considering that Sakura knew her way longer than he did, beneath all that Tsunade has done Sakura found it in herself to cooperate with Tsunade, but that didn't make them exactly friends all over again. _

_He knew Sakura, it took ages to gain her trust, but when you break it it's going to take even more ages to gain it back. It was just how she was. _

_Sasuke got up, going behind Sakura and putting the file in her small pack. He zippered the bag up and handed it back to her. She put it on her back, tightening the straps so it was flat against her back, not being able to drag when she ran. _

"_Alright. I'm ready." _

Sasuke frowned in annoyance, she was taking too long. He was thinking of going in to find her, but he had to be patient. If they were going to work together to find his brother he was going to have to learn to trust her as well, and work on his patience. He cracked his knuckles as he got off the wall and began pacing in small circles. He heard chatter just touching the maximum of his range of hearing, but he knew it was Sakura. She was talking to the guards, just briefing that she was going into a nearby village for a small vacation. The guards nodded, letting her go. They had jotted down that Sakura had left the village, she didn't give an exact return date but she said in at least a month from now she'll be returning.

She walked outside the gates, looking for any signs of Sasuke. Her head craned around, not being able to see him concealed by the darkness of the night.

She continued walking, not making it two steps away from the village walls before she was pulled back by a grip on her wrist. She was about to scream, but a hand covered her mouth.

"Relax woman, didn't I tell you that I was going to be hiding?" Sasuke whispered as Sakura immediately ceased her struggle. Letting her go, she turned around to face him.

"Yes, such a nice greeting." She seethed between her teeth as she massaged her mouth and chin that was slightly tingling from Sasuke's hard grip.

"What did she say?" Sasuke asked as they made pace through the forest, following the village walls to where they ended, the Valley of the End. They made it to the waterfalls, standing over the statue of Madara Uchiha.

"I explained to her what was going to happen. She wanted me to send her a scroll at least every other week just to update. She wants reports, in exchange for her silence. I told her that this might be the possible answer to clear you off the bingo book. She had high doubts of it, considering that you are in almost every bingo book out there. Including our highly classified case files." Sasuke had only caught the first sentence, already blown away that she was so determined to make sure he was deemed innocent.

"What do you mean clearing me Sakura?" Sasuke asked as they jumped down the rock ledges, near the fast moving river. They ran along the dirt sides of the river that were damp from high tides.

"If you manage to deal with Itachi, who is a higher ranked criminal than you are, higher ranking officials in the village might pardon you." She said as they climbed up another wall, that led them back into a forest, far off the boundaries of Konoha. They were now astray, and it was up to them to find Oto. However, since that's where Sasuke's hideout was, they would have no trouble finding the village at all.

Sasuke swallowed.

"I won't go back."

Sakura paused turning to face him.

"Sorry?"

"I can't go back Sakura, it isn't right. Even if I was pardoned, I would be shunned by society." Sakura was shocked, with a mix of anger. He quite possibly had a free ride to freedom, a life free of crime and the ability to put the past behind him but he's refusing it?

"Sasuke, take that back."

"Why would I take something back that's the truth?"

"You're fucking kidding me right? Sasuke, this is your chance to come back to the village, with me. Don't you want that?" Sasuke found himself staring into the big jaded orbs that he came to love years ago, and the same feelings there, ready to have the dust brushed away from those parts of his heart but a part of him found it uncomforting.

Sakura had an almost desperate look in her eyes, somewhat hurt by his rejection. She thought maybe, just maybe things would change after this little adventure, but it seems Sasuke was not the same as she thought, and he was refusing to go back with her. Sasuke looked away from her gaze, looking at the ground. He swallowed his body tense as he turned around and began running.

"Come on, we can make it to the boarders of Oto by sunset."

Sakura was upset. She had a frown plastered onto her face the whole time, a word not being uttered between the both of them. She was foolish to think that Sasuke would be so, happy and willing to come back to the village after Itachi had been dealt with. She was just here to help him find Itachi, with their childhood memories and their past to keep them moving together.

She felt down. How was she going to do this when Sasuke just wanted to look for Itachi?

She shook her head. She was only going to be a burden if she let petty feelings get in the way. She was here to help him, and that's what she'll do. She had promised herself that if Sasuke only wanted her for information, she'll do it and not make a fight about it. She looked at Sasuke who was running in front of her, his black hair tousling in the wind as he ran. She licked her bottom lip and shook off the thoughts of them when they were younger away from her.

"_He isn't the same Sakura!"_

"_What did you think he was the same?" _

Tsunade's voice was chanting in her ear, along with her inner, the more she thought about it.

"_Yup, he killed 50 innocents, that isn't murder that's a sign of affection."_

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as she kept on running. She won't let this get in the way, no. Just when she opened her eyes-

"SAKURA LOOK OUT!"

Sakura only had seconds to think before she almost went running right off a steep gorge that went down, down in deep depths to the river below. She felt herself teetering on the edge attempting to balance herself from falling.

"Sasuke!" She shrieked as she felt her weight pull her over the edge.

"SAKURA!"

* * *

So. I have no life.

And when I said I'd start this in two days, I was like "Fuck that shit, I'm starting tonight because my Mom won't let me go to my friends party because last time I came home drunk I threw up all over her carpet!"

So, while you all _obviously_ will sulk with me over my bitchy mother, enjoy the start of the sequel to 'Black Bird, Night Bird', My Little Mockingbird.

Christina.


	2. I Smell A Traitor

She wasn't dead yet, if that was a good thing.

Sakura was hanging off the edge, her hand holding Sasuke's in an iron grip. She looked below her, her feet dangling as she looked at the waves of the heavy river crashing along the sandy sides of the gorge. She looked back up at Sasuke who was straining to hold her, at the last moments he saw her fall over the edge, and he had this impulse and lunged forward without his consent.

Would he have stopped? Had he not had that impulse when he heard the pinkette scream his name as she almost fell to her death?

Sasuke clenched his teeth as he brought his other arm down to hold onto Sakura's one hand, his heels were painfully digging into the dirt as he held her.

"Sasuke…" She whimpered, terrified as she chanted to herself not to look down.

"Sakura, I'm going to pull you up, you're going to help, lift yourself up and use your feet to crawl up the wall as I lift you!" She nodded frantically as Sasuke began lifting her. Her arms strained in pain as her arms were the only thing holding her, like a string expect that it her arms won't break, they'd dislocate. She felt Sasuke beginning to pull her up, she brought her legs forwards and tried climbing, but her feet slipped and she was only jerked back downwards. She let out a yelp as she brought her other hand to Sasuke's as he took it and he began pulling her up once more.

She took one hand and gripped it to the edge as Sasuke pulled her up once again with her other.

"Come….on!" He said through gritted teeth as Sakura's head was lifted over the edge. He gave one last big tug, lifting her over the side. She landed on her stomach as she pulled herself the rest of the way over, toppling on Sasuke in the process. They laid there for a few moments, just trying to catch their breaths. When Sakura came back to her senses she then realized that she was lying across Sasuke's midsection. She quickly shot up and sat on her knees, tucking a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear. She looked down at the ground as Sasuke lifted himself up.

He glared at Sakura as he wiped his pants. "What the hell are you thinking; do you not watch when you're walking in front of you?"

Sakura was in no mood of a scolding, but he was right she wasn't paying attention and it almost caused her, her life. She gulped and looked at him with low eyes. "Sorry…I was just…" She trailed off not finishing her sentence.

"You were just what Sakura?" Sasuke got up, and looked around. His hands swung in surrender as he looked back at her with his hands on his hips.

"You obviously were in deep thought that caused this. What is wrong Sakura?" Sakura shook her head, getting up and straightening her pack on her back.

"It's nothing." She said quietly. "Let's go." She began walking along the edge of the gorge, being careful not to come to close to the cliff. She kicked a rock, and watched it fall over the cliff, tumbling down the gorge walls and then flying down to the pits of the river below. Sasuke watched her walk off in the direction they were heading to, going back into her thoughts. He sighed heavily and then went to catch up to her. He walked in front of her, turning around to stop her.

"Listen Sakura, we can't have any burdens here. If there is something you want to say, say it now. I don't want you losing track or slacking with this because of things that are haunting your mind. So please, tell me now." Sakura just wiped her forehead, wiping her forehead of sweat. It was pelting hot outside, the sun burning hot.

"Don't worry about it Sasuke. It was just me over thinking things. Come on, if we want to get to the border by nightfall, we can't stop." Sakura was already feeling shitty, that she was already becoming dead weight here and she didn't want to cause anymore problems. Straightening out her mind, clearing out her thoughts they jumped back into the trees and began running towards the border once more.

* * *

When they did reach the border, they jumped down from the trees and Sasuke looked around. "We'll camp here for the night. We'll leave at sunrise tomorrow. We'll collect supplies from my hideout then we'll start searching for him." Sakura nodded and sat down on a large tree root, placing her pack down.

"There was a stream nearby was their not?" She asked as she took a water canteen out, drank from it and handed it to Sasuke. He nodded as he took large gulps of water and tossed it back to her. It took her by surprise, it hitting her in the face and a few spurts of water getting her in the face. Sasuke almost let out a laugh but it only coming out as a small chuckle. Sakura glared at him, getting up, she turned around and stomped off towards the stream to fill up the canteen.

Once Sakura was out of sight, Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. He knew what caused her to almost go over that cliff; she was too engrossed in the thoughts of him coming back to the village. He sat on the root where Sakura was previously sitting and took the file from her pack. Spreading out sheets and reports, he looked at small reports and information sheets on Itachi.

He then came across a picture of Itachi, the most recent one he assumed and took it in his hand. He didn't change a bit, his appearance still the same. He still had the same long black hair, his trademark lines under his eyes still clear. He heard Sakura curse loudly, his head shooting up in her direction.

"Sakura are you alright?" He called.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just tripped over a rock." He heard her call back faintly. He rolled his eyes, putting the file back together and putting it back in her pack. He got up and walked in Sakura's direction to make sure she was alright. Sure enough, when he did see her after a few moments of walking, she was searching for the canteen in the darkened area of the thicket of bushes.

"Sasuke, I dropped the canteen when I fell. Help me look for it."

So instead of resting like how they should have, they spent a good 20 minutes looking for the missing canteen, that turns out was hooked under Sakura's foot. She thought she was stepping on a twig.

They sat down across from each other in a deepened part of the tree that was created from its age. They were discussing what was needed, and how they were going to start their search for Itachi. They did have to stop by the same woman Sasuke had mentioned back at the club, Karin.

Sakura's lip twitched when he mentioned that she could be of assistance.

_Yeah, assistance on giving him a blowjob. _

_Whoa. Jumping the gun there, down girl._

Sakura's thoughts always took things way out proportion when she became jealous. But why would she become jealous over an acquaintance? How long did she know him for anyways? A week? Sakura grunted when Sasuke kept on going about her medical healing abilities and how she helped him countless times when he was attacked or was in need of healing.

"She has this ability, when you bite her skin chakra flows through you and heals you." He said. He seemed fascinated, and it didn't seem to calm Sakura down at all. Things became detailed after a while, and Sakura got fed up. She shot up, with a dark look in her eye.

"I'm going to bathe in the stream." She said quickly turning around, grabbing her pack in the process.

"The water is cold." He said, Sakura ignoring him, her back already turned to him. He watched her stomp off back in the same direction they came from an hour ago. "Don't fall again!" He called. He only got the finger in return.

A smirk appeared on his face, as he ran a hand over his mouth and took a swig of water from the canteen. She could be so naïve sometimes, but it was cute to see her get jealous so easily. She didn't even question him; she just automatically assumed that they had something going on because biting a woman, according to Sakura's mind leads to sexual endeavors.

His smirk grew and let out a curt laugh.

She really was something else.

* * *

Sakura let out a snarl as she came to the clearing where the stream was. How dare he talk about such things in front of her? What was she, one of his male companion that he could talk to about such topics? Her eyebrow twitched when her memory repeated the sentence how Sasuke said she had liked it when he bit her.

Sakura let out an annoyed cry and began stripping herself, placing her clothes over her pack. She put her feet into the water and shuddered, okay so maybe Sasuke was right the water was a little cold. But she would get used to it if she got in all at once. So she got on a rock, and launched herself into the deeper end of the water. She felt like a little kid all over again, but that's what she needed now, and not think about Sasuke's... Brass behavior with women.

She rose to the surface, breaking out in shudders as the water was frigid cold. After a few minutes, the water slowly became warm, but it was not totally warm, just warm enough to reach her comfort zone and not run out freezing cold. She rubbed her nose, as it was itchy and floated around for a few moments before standing up straight again. She heard somebody coming through the thicket, and turned her body around to cover herself.

"Who's there?" She asked in slight fear.

"It's me, I heard a splash and I was just checking if you're okay." She couldn't see Sasuke anywhere, but he clearly was able to see her. She gulped.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine I just jumped into the water to get used to the temperature. You can go now." The water suddenly felt much warmer, as she knew that she was visible to Sasuke's eyes, naked as a woman could be, in crystal clear water. She didn't hear a response, but she did hear movements so she assumed that he was going back to the camp. She slowly relaxed, but almost jumped out of the water when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She covered her chest area and turned around ready to beat the intruder. She was met with a smoldering gaze from Sasuke, his head cocked slightly to the side.

"S-Sasuke? What are you doing? Get the hell away from here can't you give me some privacy!" She said, her voice low and ending with a screech. Her arm went tighter to her chest, feeling her breasts being pressed tighter to her chest by her arm. She felt her nipples turning into little pink pebbles under her arm as Sasuke just stared at her naked body half covered by water. Her face was probably an ungodly shade of red as she swallowed. She was trying to look angry, but right now to Sasuke she looked like the most tempting woman he ever seen.

"Sasuke! Leave!" She said getting more, and more embarrassed as seconds went by, pressing her arms closer to her chest.

Sasuke rose from his squatting position and turned around. "Hurry up, we need to go over things and get a few hours of rest. There isn't time for frolicking in the water." Sakura gaped at him, her arm still pressed to her chest. The nerve of the man, to come and stare at a woman like that and just say in his deep... seductive..

_Here let me finish that sentence, in his deep, seductive, prude, ASSHOLE voice of his to say for us to hurry up? He was staring at you like a piece of meat, not that he hasn't seen you're naked body or anything before, I don't know what you're all embarrassed about it isn't anything special._

Sakura's eyebrow twitched as her attention went to her inner._ Sorry? I'd shut up if I were you. _

Her inner fell silent at her threat, as Sakura rolled her eyes and turned around and began making her way to the edge of the stream. She brought herself onto a rock that was still warm from the suns rays of the afternoon's heat, and sat there to let herself dry. She turned back to where Sasuke had come from, and just prayed that he wasn't still looking at her.

* * *

Sasuke had a smirk plastered to his face as he made his way back to the clearing, he had use every grain in his mind to stop himself from laughing at her horrified expression when he stood before her, it was just so hilarious. It was a small amusement to himself. His expression turned serious when he heard voices up ahead.

He quickly crouched down and made a hole with his finger through the bush and looked ahead. Two men in masks were looking through his pouch, and searching through their belongings.

Konoha ANBU?

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

_That bitch!_


	3. What File?

Sakura was calmly putting on her clothing, in the process of putting on her pants. After Sasuke had barged on her, continued to stare at her, then just plainly told her to hurry up, she complied with his request and quickly got out after his exit. She still couldn't believe he had the nerve to do something like that. It was basically saying, 'oh a woman, let's stare at her. Nah never mind, she's as FLAT AS A BOARD.' Sakura looked down to her still bare chest and sighed.

How depressing.

She pulled her shirt over her head, shrugging it as it clinged to her damp skin.

She yawned, declaring that when she got back to camp she'll lie down and sleep for a few hours before they left for Sasuke's base. She didn't even make it two steps when she was charged at by Sasuke. She was pushed rather roughly against the rock that was still damp from her sitting on, with his hand to her neck. His grip tightened every time she cried out, or asked what was going on.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"A-ah!" Sakura didn't know what was going on to be honest, if this was some act of BDSM she did not want to be the so called 'voluntold person.' She started struggling and then he put his other hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming, or the ANBU hearing them. He brought his head down to her ear. His lips brushed against her ear as he spoke:

"Are you going to act like you had nothing to with this Sakura?" When he said her name, his voice raised an octave, his grip tightening on her neck. Sakura shook her head in fast movements.

"S-sasu-uke can't b-reathe!"

Sasuke arched a brow. Did he actually expect her to go now?"

"Good."

Sakura shook her head again, looking at him with profound eyes that were on the verge of tears, she brought her hands to his single large hand that was covering her breathing tube and began trying to get his hand off of it. From scratching his hand, to slapping it or just telling him to let her go he didn't budge.

"W-what happened?" She asked with slowly failing attempts at breathing properly.

"Don't act innocent with me Sakura, it won't work." He said through gritted teeth as his hand tightened once more. Sakura coughed, as her lungs strained for oxygen.

"I wouldn't know if I'-I'm inn-ocent or not if I d-don't know what you're talking about!" She looked at him with an almost pleading expression as she tried again trying to get his constricting hand off of her neck. Sasuke's one hand had so much power. She saw how his slender fingers gripped at her neck, veins pulsing through his wrist. She had no idea why he was coming at her with such vicious intent, but she hoped he told her before she passed out.

"Was it you, or that blonde bitch that called the ANBU ops?" He asked standing between her legs, his grip on her neck still in place. His grip loosened just so she was able to talk, but it was still there. She gulped, taking in fresh oxygen. She coughed, feeling her rising skin on her neck pressing against his hand, which was warm and sweaty as she relaxed slowly. Being able to breathe, talk, and be aware of what was going on her eyes narrowed at him in slow, raising anger.

"I beg your pardon? Do you not trust me? You'd think I do such a thing?" She looked at him in retaliation, almost deciding to raise both of her legs and kick him, but the part that still wanted to be alive, second guessed that idea.

"Was it you or Tsunade that called those officers here?" He asked once again, not even listening to what she said moments earlier.

"Sasuke! I didn't fucking send ANBU on you! To think that you'd have higher thoughts of me…" She looked away annoyed with him. This was the second time tonight that she was thought of nothing more than a low peasant from Sasuke and it annoyed her to no end.

"Then why are they here?"

"Maybe if you let me go I can go over and ask. You of course, have to hide somewhere."

Sasuke loosened his grip on her throat. His hand still there, but merely pressed against her throat. Sakura went rigid against the rock as she dimly felt his thumb rubbing against her throat, as if to massage it. Her hands quickly rose to his hand, taking him off guard, taking the hand and jerking it away from her neck. It fell to his side as he looked at her with surprise.

"I-I'll go see what they want." She said as she paused, with her back turned to him, and began walking in the direction of the Konoha ANBU. She was about to step into the thicket but Sasuke called her name. She looked over her shoulder to look at him.

"I'm sorry for acting so rashly. I just assumed…"

Sakura fully turned to face him anger swept over her face.

"You just assumed? Assumed what Sasuke? That just because we're from the same village, that I work for the same people that it was me that called them? Get real Sasuke, and why don't you think about who you're talking to. Please." She shook her head slowly, lips pursing. She turned around and began walking away, not turning back to talk to him.

Sasuke watched her walk away, using her hands to maneuver herself through the trees and bushes. They both knew that ANBU would already be waiting for her, on guard. But she obviously posed no threat to them. He scratched under his neck, where his bottom hairline met his hair. He went and pissed her off again. Back when she was back in the river, that was a joke just to tease her of course, but now he had really angered her, offended her even.

_Sigh._

* * *

As expected, when she walked through the thicket the two guards were posed in starting position, with kunai and such in their hands. When they saw her walk through, they stood up.

"Sakura-san? What are you doing out here?" The one on the right with the hawk mask asked. The other one to her left, was obviously female. She remained in her stance. She looked back to the one in the hawk mask.

"I was just leaving to go to a nearby village for vacation. Tsunade-sama had let me off for a month. This recent case that I was given, pretty tough for me." She said going to grab her things.

"But it seems… you both have found me? Do you need proof of me being released for vacation?"

The female stood up straight, looking at Sakura dead in the eye.

"No, we don't need your goddamn identification pinky. But why are you coming out this way? The only village in this direction is Otogakure. Surely, you aren't taking a vacation in the likes of that place." Sakura's gaze hardened at the female opp.

"I was taking a detour. I like the forests. Consider it a nature travel." She said going to grab her pack.

"Were you guys just coming through?" She asked as she looked through her pack to make sure nothing was missing. The only thing missing was the file.

_The file…_

_THE FILE?! _

Her head shot up to the two ops, were already advancing towards her.

"Haruno Sakura, we know you are with Uchiha Sasuke. If he doesn't show himself now we will call for back up." Sakura looked behind her as she heard him come through. She swallowed at his expression. It was dark, and glooming.

"Come forward. We will have reinforcements to escort the both of you back to the village. Lucky that we came across your packs. Stupid of you to leave them while you go off somewhere." The female let out a small laugh. "Stupid stupid…"

Sasuke came forward and stood beside Sakura. He looked at her, and she looked at him, with a worried expression. She mouthed 'sorry.' Sasuke shook his head and looked straight ahead. Once the ANBU's took one step towards them there was chaos everywhere.

Sakura was pushed back, as she stumbled and fell back into a bush. She winced when she felt branches scratching her skin. She looked up over the bush and her eyes were wide as balls.

Sasuke was fighting off the two ANBU's. One was already dead, his head dissembled. Blood poured profusely from the decapitated neck; she wanted to throw up from the stench. He was now battling with the female who was making efforts of fighting him off.

But you can't fight off a mass murderer.

Sakura had blinked, trying to breathe but the smell of blood choked her. She looked back and Sasuke was quickly charging to her.

"Come on, ANBU will be here in no more than 20 minutes." He grabbed Sakura, hoisting her up and taking her bridal style.

"Sasuke the file!"

"Fuck the file, we have to get out of here and you will be in bigger trouble than me if they catch you." Sasuke lifted her up, and began running in the direction of his base.

Sakura clinged to his neck as he ran at top notch speeds, seeing blurs of green and black go past them. It was a dark blue the sky, the sun beginning to rise.

Amongst all the chaos, Sakura didn't even think about how Sasuke was more worried about her safety than the file.


	4. Teach Me

It was silent for the most part, as Sasuke kept his fast pace as they ran through the small village in Otogakure. Sakura gulped as people looked at them, suspicious. Some glared at her for being in the hands of no other than Uchiha Sasuke, as they looked at her red headband adorned with the Konoha symbol. Once they made it to the end of the village, Sasuke came to a halt. He slowly put her to the ground. As her feet touched the ground, she still hand her arms round around his neck. She slowly brought her arms down to her sides, trying not to touch him any further in the process.

Sasuke was the first to break the silence.

"The hideout is no more than 2 kilometers from here. The ANBU from Konoha are probably still on our trail. But my hideout is underground. So it will be harder for them to find us." Sasuke didn't say any more, turning around and led the way.

Sasuke was mentally kicking himself right now.

_Oh yes, we had to save the goddamn girl first right. We just lost our only chance of finding Itachi, NOPE had to save her first. _

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he sighed in frustration. His inner did have a point, after all his searching he had his hands on the most likely piece of information that will get him closer to killing Itachi, but he was paying too much attention to…

Her.

_Sakura._

He couldn't just leave her there. Had they got their hands on her, or him for the matter he would be locked away for life and Sakura would be stripped of her job, her shinobi status and probably rejected by her village.

Exiled.

Sasuke couldn't bear the thought of being the reason why her life was taken from her. Everything that she had worked for. But wasn't he the one that was causing her the most confusion right now? Sakura was intending on working with him, to find Itachi and hopefully this will maybe, just _maybe _do some damage on his criminal status, and maybe he will be pardoned with the punishment that was waiting for him, and will be given a lighter punishment.

But Sakura was silent right now, she was probably still angry about what happened at the stream, but once again he had saved her life.

He was probably confusing her more than he was confused about his own thoughts.

* * *

They made it to the hideout just when the sun was at the peak in the sky, overhead shining bright. They stopped in front of an abandoned building, walls torn down and a roof caved in. It was fenced for reconstruction, building machines and cranes around it. They walked to the side of the building and Sasuke crouched down, pulling the lid of a sewer over to the side. The lid was heavy; to her it looked like carrying a ton of bricks. She was again transfixed at how his arms flexed when he went to move the lid, seeing how his biceps expanded. She blinked a few times, when she realized Sasuke was speaking to her. She looked from where he was previously crouched, to him now standing.

"Are you listening to me?" He asked with an irritated expression on his face. He really didn't want to talk to her right now; he just wanted some time to think. They were sitting ducks just standing here, ANBU could already be on the premises and his cover could be totally blown.

"W-wha?"

Sasuke glared at her.

"I'm going to jump down, and then you will. I'll catch you when you come down."

"I beg your pardon? I'm not going into a sewer." Sakura said absolutely disgusted.

"It's not a sewer. It has the lid of a sewer yes, but it's decent when you get down there. Hurry up. If you don't come down in 10 seconds after I get down there, I'm closing the grid on you." Before Sakura could say anything back to him, he jumped down, landing with grace with his knee to the ground. He rose and looked up at the small hole. He saw Sakura's small pink head peeking over, almost second guessing jumping.

"Sakura, you have 3 seconds."

She took in a deep breath.

"2."

_Jump you paranoid idiot! _Her inner screamed at her.

Sakura did a pencil, and jumped down, her pink hair flaring about. She brought her legs forwards, so it would be easier for him to catch her. He caught her bridal style. She slightly winced when she felt her thighs slap against his skin, the sting will surely leave a red mark there for awhile. He put her down, her movements staggered, feeling strange after jumping down a 10 foot hole, only for him to catch her so suddenly.

She regained her posture, and looked at Sasuke who was climbing up a small ladder, and bringing the grid over the hole. He slid back down the ladder and brought against the wall. He turned to her.

"Follow me."

_Where the hell else am I going to go genius? _She felt like saying to him, but kept quiet in the end. The hallway that led to his den was damp and wet. The walls were sweating, and it smelled like mold. Sasuke held a torch, the only light in the hallway. She scuttled towards Sasuke, standing close to him. Sasuke looked at her from the corner of his eye, the flame on the torch just making out her profile. The dimmed orange light beamed off her face making her skin look a darker hue compared to her pale complexion. Sasuke pushed open and iron door, and they walked into a much larger room, a very spacious room, with more lighting. He put the torch on a stand that was bolted to the wall, and waited for Sakura to come in. She proceeded with caution, turning around as he shut the iron door, locking it in the process.

"If you need to use the bathroom, it's on your left. I'll be down the hall, first door on the left." And with that, Sasuke left her to her own guides as he walked to where he directed her that he'd be. Sakura bit her bottom lip as she walked around the room. It was one huge room, with halls that broke off from the main room.

The flooring was just plain grey cement, the walls also cemented. There was a small couch, a radio that sat on the stand beside the TV, and a small kitchen.

Well. She wouldn't really call it a kitchen, just a space on the opposing side of the couch, with a charcoal BBQ and a cooler. She walked over to the cooler, and opened it. There were drinks, of course why else would there be a cooler there?

She took out a water bottle, shutting it. She walked around the big room, doing two laps slowly just taking in the space before walking to the bathroom. The bathroom wasn't much to look at either, a toilet, and to the left of the toilet was a spray shower with a square of cement with a drain to stand on. There was a small sink, a white bowl with pipes that went from and to the sink. She turned it on, shocked that the water was clean. It was frigid cold, however.

Reminded her of the river.

Sakura looked around the bathroom. Everything was cemented. But really, what were you going to do in an underground place like this? Fidazzle everything? For as long as she could remember, Sasuke was always the plain person, not bothering with necessities, and decorations alike. She heard clanging, turning her head over her shoulder. She walked out of the bathroom, walking down towards where she heard the sounds coming from.

She was marveled, shocked even at what she saw in the room.

A wide arrangement of weapons hung on the walls, from Katana's, to a basic kitchen knife, to a butcher knife. There was a table opposing where she stood that had a wide arrangement of smaller weapons, senbon and such. She took a step into the room, and Sasuke turned around. He looked at her for a moment, taking in her stature. She was not looking at him, more so what was in the room.

"Holy cow." She uttered, looking at him finally. Sasuke smirked at her reaction and turned back to what he was doing.

"You like to keep things neat, but only certain things it seems." She said as she walked over to him, observing how he was cleaning his katana of the blood from the ANBU, and then sharpening it.

"Yeah well, a killer likes his weapons to be pretty." He said giving her a sideways glance. She made a sound through her nose that almost sounded like a laugh but Sasuke wasn't sure. She looked at the katana, which was the very same katana that Sasuke kept from when he first appeared in her room, with the sharpened tip at her bridge.

"You always use this katana." She said simply as she admired the handle. It was black, with dragon scales, and the mouth of the dragon at the opposite end of the hilt, where the blade began. The dragon's eyes were a bright red. Her eyes wandered along the large blade.

"Is it special?" She asked as Sasuke paused, before going back to sharpen the blade. She waited for him to respond, looking at him.

He finally spoke. "It was my fathers. It was to be brought down through the family, given to the youngest son in the family. Of course, that being me. But my father never had the chance to properly hand it down to me." Sakura's lips went into a thin grim line as she nodded.

"Sorry I brought it up."

"You asked me. I only had to answer." He said as he put the cloth down that was damp with water, and sheathed the sword with a 'ting!' sound.

He turned to face her with the katana in his hand. Sakura looked at the large, thick leather binding that held the katana, protecting the blade. The suede strings undone, no need for tying them because he used the katana on a daily basis.

"It's beautiful." She said in a quiet voice, eyes still fastened on the katana. Her eyes then went up to Sasuke's face. He was concentrated on her, his expression the same blank one he always had. Her hand slowly went to his hand, the same hand that possessed the blade. Sasuke didn't jerk back, or tell her to stop. Her hand slowly grasped onto the leather casing. She looked up at him, he was watching her movements.

"Can I?" She asked in the same quiet voice.

He didn't respond, but his hand moved up, holding the katana vertically by the middle of the casing. Sakura's small fragile hand went out, and grasped onto the casing. It was heavy, she'll admit. But she still was able to hold it. Sasuke's hand let go, as Sakura's other hand went to unsheathe the sword. Sasuke watched as her hand that held the hilt of the blade, rose, the flat, almost flexible piece of metal came to view.

She brought it out, the case in her left hand, as she brought the sword down, examining the blade. She looked back to Sasuke who had an almost fascinated expression on his face.

"I want to learn." She said as his eyes then went wide. A few realizations cracked into place, one he let Sakura wield his father's blade. Nobody touched his blade. Secondly, Sakura just asked to learn how to wield a sword. Innocent Haruno Sakura just asked him to teach her how to use a sword.

"No." He said, the moment seemingly gone. He shot forward, taking the case. His movements became slow, as he took the sword from her possession with caution.

"Why not?" She asked confused.

"Sakura, it's not a toy. I'm not going to just let you wield a sword, and teach you like it's nothing."

"But I want to learn! I'm not a child Sasuke." She said almost sounding irritatingly like a child. Sasuke shot her a look that almost told her to 'shut up.'

"Sakura, you're only here to help me. I don't want anything else to do with you."

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an almost smug expression.

"But tell me Sasuke, how are we going to find your brother when you were too busy saving me, leaving the file behind? Seems like you don't want _anything _to do with me."

Sasuke was lost at words. "I-I…"

Sakura arched a brow.

"I didn't want you dead." He finished his sentence, hesitatingly.

"I needed you to show me where he was, because you have the file."

Was Sasuke not paying any attention to what she was saying? The file was gone. It was in ANBU possession now. It was up to them to find Itachi, without the file.

"Oh Sasuke. What file?" She asked giving him a pouty expression.

Sasuke's lip twitched. "Why are you so annoying?"

"I'm just being logical here Sasuke. It's better than me being dead weight. But you know, I can make you do all the work, but there's always the chance of teaching me something, so we can do double the work, finding him."

She turned and walked out of the room with slow strides. She raised her hands in a shrugging movement.

"But that's your choice you know…"

Not even a day together, Sasuke was already ready to kill this woman.

* * *

So. I bought myself a new USB.

And this time, I'M GOING TO **SAVE THE FILES ONTO MY COMPUTER AS WELL. **

Because, I'm totally stupid and didn't do it the first time. So now, I can write ahead and plot this story accordingly. And I have a pretty good idea about how it's going to come through. :)

Till next time,

Christina.


	5. And So It Begins

This morning, Sakura didn't get a nice wake up call.

They were still in Sasuke's hideout underground; she had fallen asleep in the corner reading a medical scroll. The events from last night hadn't really dawned on her until she had a bucket of cold water poured over her.

"What the fuck!" She cursed as she was jolted awake, wiping her face from the freezing cold water. She looked up before her to see the Uchiha, with the bucket in his hand. He was smugly smirking.

"What in God's name was that for?" She snapped as she looked down at herself. Great, she was absolutely drenched in cold water, and had no change of clothes. She death stared Sasuke before getting up. Sasuke couldn't help but hold his gaze on her clothes, they were now completely soaked and were sticking to her like a second skin. Snapping out of his thoughts he looked to Sakura's face which was contorted in anger and annoyance.

"You wanted to learn how to fight with a sword?"

Sakura blinked for a few times as the memories slowly flowed back into her mind, the dizziness and drowsiness from sleep slowly wearing off of her. She looked over to the wall where the pair of katanas was lined against the wall.

"What made you come around?" She asked as she gripped her wet t shirt in her hands and strained the soaking shirt of its water.

"I thought about you said. And it would work if I taught you; we'd get twice the work done in faster time. However I have conditions." Sakura arched her brow. Conditions? In a time like this? Leave it to this loony bin.

"And those conditions are…?" Sakura walked over to the swords that were lined against the wall and took hold of the smaller one observing the leather casing.

"You listen to what I say, you do what I do. I'm your teacher from now on." He walked over to where she was standing and took hold of his own sword. "And if you have a problem with that…" Sasuke took his sword, the singing of a sword being unsheathed ringing through the echoing hideout. Sakura found the tip of Sasuke's katana lined against her jugular. She didn't move an inch, her eyes focused on the potentially dangerous man in front of her.

"Well that's just a damn shame." Sakura sighed and raised her finger and moved Sasuke's katana away from her skin and moved.

"Sasuke, I'm not going to run away if that's what you're worried about. I'm here to help you, but the more we stand here. The more helpless and useless I am. But out of curiosity, what am I going to wear since you decided to give me the most beautiful wakeup call ever?" Sasuke walked down the hallway into a room and she heard Sasuke opening a closet and came back out again. He was holding a white haori, similar to the one he was wearing. It had the Uchiha crescent on the back, but he couldn't care less about that at the moment.

"Here." He tossed her the shirt and she caught it with ease. She looked down at it then at him. He had an emotionless expression on his face.

"What? Put it on."

"Oh Sasuke, what does this mean?" She asked her voice drowning in sarcasm. "Oh how privileged I feel, wearing a haori with your clan symbol on it…" She said dramatizing and putting the back of her hand at her forehead.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.

"Sakura just put the damn thing on."

"Not with you standing there."

"Sakura, just put the goddamn thing on I'm not going to rape you."

Sakura just stood there with her arms crossed looking up at the moist ceiling. She heard Sasuke huff in surrender, and when she looked back straight he was gone. She smiled in accomplishment. She then took the haori and stretched her arms out seeing it in front of her. If she was going to wear this and train with it, it was going to have to be worn comfortably. The damn thing was almost twice her size!

Sasuke waited in the hallway leading to the ladder to leave the hideout. They should be able to train, or him training her inside the walls of Otogakure, but they should keep their guard up regardless. It was almost 10 minutes that his patience had worn thin and he went back into the main room.

"Sakura are you-" Sasuke stopped mid sentence as he paused in the doorway. Sakura was just tying the string on the jacket as her back was facing him, the Uchiha crescent adorned on her back. He paused to soak in this scene before him as Sakura moved to un tuck her hair from underneath the haori. She turned and faced him, putting her arms on her hips.

"What? If I was going to wear this, it was going to have to be comfortable you know?" Sakura had cut the sleeves till it reached just to the middle of her bicep, the whole haori overall reaching mid thigh.

"Are you ready?"

Sakura smiled as she took the katana off the table.

"Whenever you are!"

* * *

Sasuke lead Sakura to a small field not far from the abandoned building where Sasuke's hideout was and he turned to face her.

"As long as I'm training you, you aren't to leave this village. This is basically our safe grounds. You understand?" Sakura nodded. "How long do you except us to be here before we set out again?"

Sasuke huffed. She was always full of questions.

"I don't know. That all depends on your speed of learning and grasping things. But I shouldn't see more than 3 weeks. We're going to have to infiltrate the village and get back the file. Can you do that when the time comes for it?"

Sakura went silent for a few minutes.

"Let's just think of this before we do anything else."

* * *

Hey guys... Well! I'm back with Sasuke's adventures of attempting to train Sakura in swordsmanship! What will happen between our two favorite characters hm?

I'm on summer vacation so except more from me! :)

Till next time,

Christina


	6. I Spy A Rat

"Alright. Before I teach you anything, I want to see how you handle a sword. So with the sheath on, show me how you handle a sword."

Sakura took the sword in her possession and put the leather hilt in her hand and put one hand underneath the other so both hands had a tight grip on the hilt. Sasuke watched her as she adjusted her hands and stopped. Sasuke walked over and observed her hands and how they were placed. He adjusted her hands and backed up.

"That is how you handle a sword. You were pretty much accurate at first, just your lower hand shouldn't have been supporting the bottom, and your two hands should have a firm grip that no fingers should be at the very hilt. Maybe you aren't completely hopeless after all." Sakura pouted at him and he smirked as he walked back to his point.

Unsheathing his sword he tossed the casing to the side and paused for a moment.

"Unsheathe your sword." Sakura removed the casing and tossed it aside as Sasuke had done earlier.

"Don't worry, sooner or later that sheathe will be at your waist and you won't be tossing it down in a real battle. You look like an amateur when you do that." Sakura let out a small laugh and her arms wavered for a moment, and Sasuke shot forward. Sakura panicked, at Sasuke's speed and that he was about to attack her. Raising her sword she blocked Sasuke's attack, but just merely.

"SASUKE WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Her hands were shaking as she tried to pry Sasuke's blade off of hers, but he was too strong. Keeping his blade against hers Sasuke began to speak.

"Sakura in a real battle, would you let your guard down like that? You would have been dead already. Don't yell and screech at me when I'm only trying to help you. Try prying my blade off of yours."

Sakura mustered the strength she had and pushed forward, but she only fell back on her bottom. Her sword fell to the side as she was taking in deep breaths. She looked up at him.

"That's not fair, you caught me off guard!"

Sasuke only looked down at her and put his hands at his waist.

"Do you think your enemy is going to tell you 'Hey I'm going to attack you now, be ready?!' Sakura, you must be ready no matter the situation, be on your guard because I'm going to be doing more of those to make sure you're actually paying attention. But know that any time I ever attack you it's solely to straighten you out, I'm not actually attacking you. I want you to remember that."

Sakura nodded and swallowed.

"Now get up, let's get started with some basic swings. We're also going to have to work on your upper body strength." Sakura nodded and grabbed the hilt of her katana and rose from the grass and got into starting position.

"Actually. You know what? Before we do anything, I want to get your upper body strength going. Your arms are as frail as twigs." Sakura gaped at Sasuke's comment as he sheathed his sword and instructed her to do so as well.

"Sasuke what are we doing?"

"I want you to get used to using your arm strength. When I was holding my sword against yours, you couldn't pry it off. You also don't have confident strength when holding the sword. Before I even teach you how to properly hold and fight with a sword, I want to gain your strength. So we're going to do a little hand to hand combat. Do you have any experience with that?"

"Sasuke. I was just an investigator working in my village; I wasn't a highly wanted criminal like you that needs to practice all of these defenses. However I did a bit of Judo with some of my friends in the village for a few months. It's very rusty though." Sasuke nodded. "It's better than nothing; however we're going to need more of offensive movies, since your defense is your katana. However what would happen if you were to lose your sword? How would you protect yourself then?"

Sakura nodded, understanding what he was getting at.

"So we're going to learn three things today." He used his fingers as a counting model as he looked at her. "Hand to hand combat, body strength and wielding a katana."

"Tell me you jog?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yes Sasuke, I jog."

"Alright then, let's go for a jog. Around the village." Sakura's eyes went wide as saucers as her eyes followed Sasuke who already started running.

**"NANI? SASUKE YOU BAKA!"**

* * *

"Danzo-sama. We found the file."

Two ANBU ops walked into a small office, a figure sitting at the front desk, his back hunched over.

"Good. Who had it?"

"It was in the hands of Haruno Sakura." Another op spoke up. "It seems she is in league with criminal Uchiha Sasuke, they are apparently looking for Uchiha Itachi."

"Of course they know they're being followed now. We're going to have to move in utmost secrecy. Give me the file." The op with the file in his hand walked up and placed it on his desk.

"Sai."

"Yes Danzo-sama?"

"Stay behind I want to speak with you. The rest of you are dismissed." The other two ops disappeared in a flash, leaving only the op with the hawk mask in the room standing before Danzo.

"I want you to follow those two. Find out where they are; bring a tracker if you must. This mission is confidential, therefore not even anyone else in the root can know about this. Track them, but go undetected. Find out what they want to do with Uchiha Itachi."

Sai nodded, vanishing from the room leaving Danzo alone.

Danzo already had a pretty clear idea what Uchiha Sasuke wanted to with Itachi, to kill him for killing his family. Of course that's why he was chasing him down, that's probably why he became a criminal. But what was investigator Haruno Sakura doing with the likes of him?

Danzo's eyes narrowed. He summoned an unknown op that was on watch in an unknown area around the building.

"Yes Danzo-sama?"

"Bring me Tsunade. Alone."


	7. A Lively Change Of Events

_Huff..._

_Huff..._

"Sasuke, we've been running for 20 minutes now and haven't stopped, can we take a break please?" Sakura came a halt and sat down on a small boulder as Sasuke came to a halt moments after. She looked over at Sasuke. "How is this going to improve my body strength anyway?" Sakura patted her thighs and groaned at that she didn't any hair ties to put her pink mane of hair up.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, she was already complaining...

"Say Sasuke, since we're going to be here for awhile, I need to buy a few things from the store. Would you be able to accompany me?"

"Sakura this isn't your village where things are all merry and cheery. This village is a home to criminals." _Like me._

Sakura took in a deep gulp of air as she was catching her breath. "I'm sure there has to be something... This is a ninja village am I right?" Sasuke nodded as Sakura got up and stretched her arms. "Well, let's get going then."

By the time they made it back to the training grounds it was already way past noon. It was becoming cloudy and it was going to rain. Sakura looked up at the sky and then at Sasuke. "Should we continue?" Sasuke adjusted his boot straps and looked at her then to the sky. "Yeah, until it starts raining I guess. It could be awhile before it starts to rain." Sakura nodded as she waited for Sasuke to give instruction.

"I'm going to put you through a small boot camp. But believe me; in the end this will benefit you greatly." Sasuke got down to the ground and looked at Sakura. "Well? Sit down." Sakura made a jolt as if snapping back to reality and made a sheepish smile and sat down across from him.

"We'll start with push ups. 50. Let's go." Sakura groaned; this will be the death of her.

* * *

Tsunade was sitting in her apartment room with the blinds closed and a fresh bottle of sake in front of her. It wasn't early, but it wasn't that late either and she had already gone through 3 bottles of sake. She was rubbing her forehead as she heard frapping on the window. She took her time getting up and pushing the curtain aside and blinked a few times as the bright sun blinded her momentarily. Her eyes focused on two ANBU ops that were standing on her balcony. She opened her window and stuck her head out.

"What the hell do you two want?"

"Danzo-sama wants to see you."

Tsunade's suspicion spiked. "What the hell does he want with me?"

"Tsunade, step out of your apartment and we'll find out. He wants to see you now." Tsunade was on high alert, she didn't know what Danzo wanted with her this time, but she was about to find out. Locking the window she walked to the front door and stepped out. She saw Kakashi walking down the hallway; it seemed that he was making his way to her apartment.

"Oh, Tsunade... I was just about to stop by."

"I have a few things to do Kakashi; I'll meet up with you later." Tsunade didn't spare him a glance as she made her way down the stairs, knowing that if she stalled, someone would come out and drag her towards root headquarters. Tsunade stepped outside of her apartment building her eyes squinting towards the sun.

After the events with Sakura, Tsunade hadn't seen her since then and she didn't leave her apartment since then. She had no idea where she was, or what she was doing. Tsunade shook her head guiltily. Why should she worry? She had done nothing but cause Sakura pain and misery. She had gone and taken things precious away from her memory without her permission.

_Her permission? Goddamn Tsunade, Sasuke is a criminal why would she need permission! _

Tsunade had no clue in her brain as to why Sakura would side with Sasuke, regardless of their past but she planned on visiting her apartment when she was done with Danzo, whatever he wanted from her anyways.

She didn't stall as she made her way straight over to the building that had the village's symbol on it and said 'root' Making her way inside, she walked up to the top floor where Danzo's office was.

_Knock_

_Knock _

"Come in."

Tsunade opened the door and closed it behind her.

"You made sure that nobody followed you besides my ops correct?"

"I highly doubt anybody would follow me here Danzo, what do you want?" Tsunade didn't bother sitting down, she just wanted to get to the point. Danzo however, merely gestured for her to sit down across from him. Tsunade took a breath in from her nose and didn't move. "Danzo, what do you want?" She said her voice stern.

"Now now, we aren't in any hurry Tsunade. Sit down and let me explain the current situation." Tsunade just glared at Danzo, and slowly walked over sitting down in the chair.

"Now, first things first..."

* * *

Sakura groaned as she finished her last crunch and fell to her back, and that's when she felt drops of rain. She didn't even feel like getting up, just felt like laying there and soaking up the rain. She looked over to Sasuke who was just sitting there staring at her. She blinked a few times before starting to laugh.

"What? I'm out of shape I know but you made me do a lot in a short period. And it's starting to rain, should we head back?" Sasuke just kept a blank stare on his face completely zoned out. Sakura rose from her position and crawled over to where he was and waved a hand in his face.

"Helloo? Sasuke?"

Sasuke blinked a few times before coming face to face with Sakura's apple coloured eyes.

"Are you okay? It's starting to rain and we should head off."

Sasuke was silent the whole way back.

Sakura was taken aback by Sasuke's sudden silent behavior but she didn't pay mind to i for she felt like she was invading personal space. As they made it back to their little sewer grid Sasuke lifted the grid and went down first. Sakura then went down the ladder, closing the grid over her head then jumping down, being caught by Sasuke.

They padded down the wet interior hallways a sudden change in temperature causing Sakura to shiver. As they walked into the main room Sakura went over to her now dry clothing.

"I need to change. This haori is wet and I have my own clothing that I can change into since it's dry now."

Sasuke didn't make a sound he was still silent.

"Sasuke? I'd like an answer you know!"

"No."

Sakura gasped.

"I'll get you a dry one."

* * *

"Tsunade you will tell me the truth and you will tell me now!" Danzo had slammed his hands on the wooden desk as Tsunade sat there with her arms crossed.

"I refuse to tell you anything about Haruno Sakura, I've decided to not interfere with her life anymore she is on her own now, if you want answers you should go ask her yourself Danzo." Danzo glared at Tsunade then his head snapped up to the person knocking on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a sinister, dirty old smirk appeared on Danzo's face.

"Ah Ibiki, how nice of you to come in right now."

"Sir."

"I have a stubborn brat here that won't open her mouth and give me answers. Care to elaborate with our Tsunade?"

Ibiki walked over and looked down. His head jerked back in confusion.

"Tsunade? What are you doing here?"

Danzo sat down and waved his hand.

"Take her to your quarters; I expect answers by the end of today Ibiki."

Ibiki grabbed Tsunade by the forearm and walked her out of Danzo's office, closing the door behind them. Walking down the hallway it was silent until Ibiki spoke.

"What the hell did you do this time?"

Tsunade had her head hung down, tears beginning to spill over the rims of her eyes.

"Every time I try to help someone, I always end up the bad guy!"


	8. An Unwanted Guest

Sakura stood there, rather shocked in Sasuke's change of behavior. She didn't know what had gotten into him, but she left it at that. She waited for Sasuke to return with another haori and placed her clothes on the wooden chair that stood by a small table. She assumed that Sasuke would eat there. Whatever he ate when he was here anyway.

She heard footsteps returning her so she faced Sasuke again and he held out his arm with the white haori in his hand. She slowly took it from his grasp.

"Thanks. I guess. Do you mind if I change now?" Sasuke nodded and turned and went back into the weapons room. Sakura waited until the footsteps faded and she began stripping herself of the wet haori. She assumed she was going to have to do the same thing with this haori as she did with the other one. She sighed and began stripping herself shuddering as the cool air hit her damp skin. She heard the thunder rumbling outside indicating that it was soon going to rain. She assumed that they were going to sit around majority of the day since it was raining, or that Sasuke would make her do some indoor work of some sort.

Sakura scratched her head, she reminded herself to tell Sasuke that they had to go into town to buy a few things, if there was any proper stores in this village anyway. She finished cutting the sleeves of the haori and put on the robe, tying the small obi around her waist. She flattened out the wrinkles and called for Sasuke.

"Sasuke?"

She remembered him walking into the weapons room so she made her way down there herself. She made it under the threshold of the room and stopped automatically. Blinking a few times she took in the sight before her, stopping in her own footsteps.

Sasuke was sitting on the floor, his back facing her. He seemed to be in a deep meditative state as he sat in front of some sort of shrine that had the Uchiha fan over it. He had his palms on his thighs as he sat there completely silent. Seeing that he probably didn't want to be bothered, Sakura walked back in the other direction and walked back into the main room. She looked around.

_What to do..._

She looked over to the pair of katanas that were sitting on the table that was by the wooden chairs. She walked over and picked up a sword. Keeping the sheathe on, she positioned her hands like Sasuke had told her to and began to pretend like she was some samurai warrior, expert at holding a sword. She heard footsteps then coming down the hallway and stopped automatically. She brought the sword down and quickly pretended to be observing it.

"Why are you holding my sword?"

Sakura jumped as she saw Sasuke come into the dim light.

_His sword? Eh?_

Sakura looked down to the sword that was in her hand, and in fact, it was his sword. It had a midnight black casing with a leather binding on the handle. And it was much larger. She made a sheepish smile and walked over and stuck her hand out. Sakura didn't want to bother getting into the story that she accidently picked up his instead of hers, she would seem like an idiot.

"Sorry, I was just trying to get accustomed to the weight of the sword." Sasuke's hand came out and placed his hand beside hers where it was grappling the sword and took it from her hand.

"Don't touch it. For whatever reason." Sakura's face turned sour. What the hell has gotten into him all of a sudden? Earlier today and yesterday he was his regular calm, snobbish self. Now he was just being a jerk.

"Did I do something to bother you Sasuke?" Sakura crossed her arms as Sasuke walked past her and leaned the sword against the wall. He looked at her over his shoulder. "No, you didn't do anything wrong." Sakura put a little tilt in her hips and gave him a skeptical look. She wasn't fully convinced that it was just him. "Then why are you so quiet all of a sudden?"

Sasuke slowly turned around to face her, his expression emotionless as he stared at her in the eye. Sakura was starting to become very uncomfortable with his stare and shifted from one foot to another. "...Well?" Sasuke closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. "While you were doing your pushups, I just got into this trance. That I'll be this close to getting my revenge for what Itachi did to my family. When you are ready, we'll set out. I'll maybe be able to know what peace is again." Sakura's expression softened.

_Is that why he was so worked up? He was thinking about his revenge? That doesn't change his possessive behavior though..._

"But what about what just happened back there? Why wouldn't you let me change into my own clothing Sasuke?" She saw Sasuke's shoulders go rigid and take an intake of air.

"Sasuke I'm not going to do anything. You can tell me."

"When you were standing there. Wearing my haori. I saw my mother in you. She used to wear something like what you were wearing. She almost has the same face as you. Just minus the hair and eyes. Same height and all.." Sakura's mouth went tight as she felt her eyes water. Sasuke took another intake of air as Sakura watched his mouth open but close again. He spoke moments later again.

"It just made me think into the future. That's all." Sakura's green eyes went wide as there was a strained silence.

"Sasuke I-"

"SAKURA MOVE!" Sakura watched a series of emotions play on Sasuke's face before he charged forward and pushed Sakura to the side with his body covering hers. They crashed to the floor as Sasuke looked up and saw a arrow in the wall where Sakura was once facing. Sakura was about to let out a string of curses before Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand. He brought his lip to his mouth indicating for her to stop talking. He slowly moved to the table and took his katana and unsheathed it. His head scanned the whole area with alert and awareness. Sakura stayed still laying on the floor between the wall and the small wooden table.

Sasuke then began to move around, moving things as he watched for any movement.

_Great, who the fuck got into here? Or whoever it is... They know where here. And they're here to find us. Or kill us. _

"SASUKE ABOVE YOU!" At the last second, Sasuke brought his katana over him shielding himself from the attacker. Sakura crawled towards the wall, sitting in the corner behind the table. She watched in amazement as the attacker came down from the corner of the ceiling and engaged in a fight with Sasuke. This attacker only had a tanto, it was no match for Sasuke's katana. But this person proved skill to Sakura's eyes, dodging attacks and actually laying blows on Sasuke. Her eyes went wide as she saw Sasuke dodge a punch and kicked the opponent in the cross section and went flying in their direction. Sakura was going to move but was too late, the unknown person came crashing into the table and chairs but not close to her.

She gasped as she looked down at the person then to Sasuke who was coming over with killer intent in his eyes. His eyes were red. Sakura was frozen cold in fear, like a rabbit that was being cornered by a fox.

_What was happening to him? This is nothing like him!_

She looked down at the person that was groaning and was covered in splintered wood. She recognized that mask.

_Oh no..._

This was a Konoha ANBU mask.

"Wait Sasuke!" Sasuke didn't stop.

Sakura got up and stumbled and almost fell forward. She got in front of the intruder and put her arms up. "Sasuke wait!"

"Sakura get out of my way now."

"Sasuke don't kill him, we can use him for information!" Sasuke paused. She had a point. He seemed to stop as he sheathed his sword. But then he went forward again. His right arm grabbed the attacker by the front plates of his uniform and slammed him against the wall. He cocked his head and looked at this unknown person dead in the eye.

"Your lucky my friend is lenient. Now start talking. Now."

Sakura was clutching the front of her haori, still struck by Sasuke's change in attitude.

_What was going on..._


End file.
